The Saints will begin their search for a new defensive coordinator with one of the most coveted candidates on the market, Gregg Williams, according to a league source.

Williams, a former head coach in Buffalo and defensive coordinator in Jacksonville, Washington and Tennessee, arrived in town Wednesday night and will meet with Saints Coach Sean Payton, General Manager Mickey Loomis and other team officials today.

This is the only interview lined up for the Saints, who fired coordinator Gary Gibbs on Wednesday.

This also is the first interview for Williams, who became a "free agent" when his one-year deal expired with the Jaguars after the 2008 season. Williams reportedly is high on the wish list of several teams seeking a coordinator, including Green Bay and Houston. And he has long been considered among the top defensive minds in the league. Evidently, the Saints are taking the same aggressive approach in their coordinator search that they hope to bring to their defense this season.

Williams is known for his attacking, aggressive 4-3 defensive scheme, which features plenty of blitzing and aims to put heavy pressure on opposing quarterbacks -- one of the key elements that has been missing from the Saints' defense in recent years.

New Orleans, in turn, is clearly an attractive option for Williams. Here his defense would be paired with the league's top-ranked offense, led by Drew Brees. And though they have missed the playoffs two years running, the Saints still are viewed as a perennial playoff contender with stability under Loomis and Payton, who signed a new five-year contract in September.

Williams likely won't come cheap, though. He reportedly became the highest-paid assistant coach in NFL history with a three-year extension with the Redskins in 2006 at nearly $3 million per year.

He was dismissed by Washington last year after head coach Joe Gibbs resigned. Williams interviewed for the head coaching job, but the Redskins went with offensive-minded Jim Zorn. The Jaguars then essentially picked up the final year of Williams' deal, allowing him to go back in the open market this year.

Williams, 50, began his NFL career in 1990 as a special teams coach with the Houston Oilers. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1997, after the Oilers became the Titans, and he helped lead them to the Super Bowl in 1999. That season the Titans' defense allowed less than 12 points per game, one of the lowest totals in league history. He became the Bills' head coach in 2001 and was fired with a 17-31 record in three seasons.

Neither Payton nor Loomis commented Wednesday beyond a brief statement released by the team, so they've given no indication of who else might wind up on the list of candidates for the job. But they have plenty of intriguing options to choose from.

Williams' former apprentice, Jerry Gray, could be a possibility. Gray, who worked as a coordinator under Williams in Buffalo, is the secondary coach in Washington, and he has interviewed for the Detroit Lions' head coaching vacancy.

It's not clear if Gray is under contract. If so, the Saints would need to seek permission from Washington to interview him. NFL teams are only required to allow their assistants to interview for head coaching jobs with other teams.

Other popular assistants include Eagles secondary coach Sean McDermott, who has tutored for eight years under another aggressive coordinator, Jim Johnson; Titans assistant head coach/linebackers coach Dave McGinnis; and Buccaneers linebackers coach Casey Bradley. The Saints also might have interest in Jaguars secondary coach Donnie Henderson, who interviewed for their head coaching job in 2006. The contract status of those assistants is unknown, except for Bradley, who is not under contract.

It's safe to assume the Saints will continue to run a 4-3 defense because of the players in which they've invested.

That probably rules out former Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel, among other candidates. Former San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan also is primarily a 3-4 guy, though he has coached both. Nolan appears to be a top candidate for the Green Bay coordinator job.

Recently fired Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli is one of the most respected defensive line coaches in the game, though he reportedly is more interested in being a defensive line coach than a coordinator, and he has received interest from Chicago and Seattle.

The Saints also have an opening at defensive line coach after Ed Orgeron left for the University of Tennessee last week. Payton is planning to interview former Denver Broncos line coach Bill Johnson for that job this week. Johnson spent the past two years in Denver after six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and 21 years at the college level.

Other former defensive coordinators in the open market include Ted Cottrell, Jim Bates, Larry Coyer and former Saints Coach Jim Haslett, though it's safe to assume he would not emerge as a candidate to return to New Orleans.

"These days, in this league, you have to be able to have an aggressive scheme, " cornerback Mike McKenzie said when asked what he is hoping for in a new coordinator.

"You have to be able to upset the other teams' quarterbacks. We've got guys up front that can get that done, and we had so many guys in and out of the secondary this year, we've got enough guys back there to do an admirable job. It's just a matter of keeping everyone healthy."

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Mike Triplett can be reached at mtriplett@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3405.